“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks [Luke 6:45] and we who profess Christ say further “my meditation of Him shall be sweet.” [Psa.104:34] Therefore the tongue of those who love God will and must extol the immortal, it can do no other. To the sports fanatic, sport is his sweetness, to the miser it is money; but to those who are called and sanctified, their speech extols the Lord. Further, King David says “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!” [Ps 139:17] Thus, God meditates on us. Mystery indeed. Out of the abundance of God’s heart he speaks and we say in return “Unto them that believe he is precious.” There’s reciprocal wonder. When the Pharisees tried to stop the crowd proclaiming Jesus as king in the temple, Jesus said “if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out,” [Luke 19:40] and so they will in that eternal day. All creation will join the anthem unto glorified deity.
When Peter and John were forbidden to speak in Jesus name their reply was poignant, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” [Acts 4:20]. It’s no good placing or trying to enforce restraining orders on saints who have witnessed the saving power of Jesus. Out of the abundance of their heart they must speak, for all creation must cry His praise – “All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;” [Ps 145:10-11]. David says again: “O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.” [Ps 51:15] Sometimes it is a struggle because the flesh hangs heavy and the soul is afflicted. When friends forsake and enemies mock, when grievous situations arise, saints will counter with praise to God, it is their natural diet, their consuming food. As Paul says: “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” [Phil 3:7-9].
Martyrs through the ages have given up the world with all its delights as they walked the pilgrim way, making sacrifice; receiving frowns from friends, anger from enemies and sneers from neighbours, but for all that accepting those things for Christ. Is it strange that the language of heaven dominates their life here, and that the bible is their daily bread? It contains words of life and expressions of God’s love; it is the love-song of the bridegroom; therefore nothing and no one can be a substitute for Him but He can always be a substitute here on earth for anyone or anything.
There are special seasons in life when we are sick and we need a physician, when we are hungry we need food, when filled with the Holy Spirit we turn upwards to Christ and worship his dear name, name above all names. When the Holy Spirit touches us and reveals sin and causes judgement, then he becomes precious to us. Precious as a forgiving saviour for all sins, who cleanses us daily in the fierce temptations and causal yielding? It is said a friend is born for adversity and we have one that sticketh closer than a brother, even Christ our beloved. Can one wonder why he is precious for he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities and in all afflictions he is afflicted [Isa. 53:4]?
Precious you say, for when eternity beckons he will carry us through the swelling tide to life itself. Whilst we are alive he made intercession for the transgressors for he allowed himself to be numbered with them, [Isa 53:12] thus securing our salvation. He said we would be where he is [John 17:24], where the sun does not set and sin no longer has dominion, for he will turn the chamber of death into the gate of heaven. Hallelujah! Precious indeed.
